


The Wolf of Two Worlds

by sssssssim



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Percy Jackson Fusion, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-14
Updated: 2015-12-14
Packaged: 2018-05-06 17:14:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5425211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sssssssim/pseuds/sssssssim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles is the only son of Poseidon, Derek is the only son of the first werewolf. After the war against Kronos, a prophecy guides them on another quest, alongside Scott and three other shapeshifters. Even though the quest is cursed with questions about the world of the gods and the supernatural one, by the end of it, Derek finds his place. Sort of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Wolf of Two Worlds

**Author's Note:**

> WELL THIS HAS BEEN A WILD RIDE I'VE WANTED TO DO SINCE FOREVER. I don't know how Romania came up, though. I mean, I live here, sure, but I'm still confused upon why it appeared in this fic. ANYWAY.
> 
> In a world where Stiles is Percy and Derek is Annabeth. Sort of. After the events of Gods of Olympus, but a few things changed (like, there are no other sons of the big three; eh, you'll see).
> 
> Enjoy! Cause I know I did! 
> 
> [[If you wanna reblog it on tumblr, I did some edits for it heh]](http://sssssssim.tumblr.com/post/135189372726/the-wolf-of-two-worlds-stiles-is-the-only-son-of)

Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood.

If you’re reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.

Being a half-blood is dangerous. It’s scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.

If you’re a normal kid, reading this because you think it’s fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.

But if you recognize yourself in these pages – if you feel something stirring inside – stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it’s only a matter of time before _they_ sense it too, and they’ll come for you.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

My name is Stiles Stilinski.

Am I a troubled kid?

Yeah, you could say that.

 

**S T I L E S**

Stiles didn’t want to be a half-blood. But it still happened. It took a while, though, for him to find out the truth.

He never knew his father, his real father. Whenever he asked, his mother got a huge, loving smile on her face, but a distant look in her eyes. She never told Stiles what really happened, she just said that his father had to leave them both, when Stiles was very young.

Stiles didn’t like his father very much. He wanted to hate the guy, but the love his mother still had for the man stopped him.

And then, when Stiles was 8, his mother died. It took a long time, a couple of years for her to degenerate. She spent the last couple of months in the hospital, with Stiles by her side.

He had an aunt, that kept him fed, clothed and gave him a place to sleep, but even if Stiles was only 8, he knew that his aunt didn’t care for him, just as she didn’t care for his mother.

When she died, Stiles was in the hospital room with her. Her last words to him were ‘You’re going to be a hero, Stiles. Forgive your father, and stay strong.’

It didn’t make a lot of sense, to him.

Stiles doesn’t remember a lot of what happened after the funeral, but he will never forget the first time he saw Deputy Stilinski. The doctors forced Stiles out of his mother’s room a while ago, and he was sitting alone on the hospital hallway, on the ground, curled into a ball and crying for his mother.

And then this stranger came, a tall man in a police uniform, and he didn’t say anything, he just wiped Stiles’ face with the back of his sleeve and gave him a bottle of water. And he stayed, in silence, on the ground next to Stiles, until the doctors came out of the room.

That night, Stiles went home with the strange deputy. It was a lot better than staying with his aunt, so Stiles never left. A year later, Deputy John Stilinski legally adopted Stiles. It hurt, to lose his mother’s last name, but the man assured him that when Stiles turns 18, he will personally help him do the paper work, to change his name back.

That… happened 8 years ago.

Things were good, for about 4 years. Then everything went to hell.

Stiles wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for Scott. Scott, his best friend since as long as he could remember, his brother from another mother, the only person in the world that Stiles could act like himself around.

Scott McCall, the satyr.

Yeah. Stiles was as shocked as you are when Scott took off his pants, only to reveal hooves and fur.

Scott was the one who brought him to Camp Half-Blood, and he has been by Stiles’ side ever since. He explained everything, and they fought side by side, time and time again. From the Minotaur before they got to camp and their first quest to find the lighting thief to the Titan War last summer.

And then, there was Derek. Stiles also had Derek.

Did he have Derek? Yeah. Yeah, Stiles had Derek.

Derek was the oddball in the camp of demigods, because he wasn’t a demigod. He was a werewolf.

The only human (ish) son of Lycaon, made with a half-blood, a child of Athena. So Derek could turn into a full wolf whenever he wanted, there was also that half-change he usually used in battle and training, and he was just as smart as a child of Athena.

Derek’s first words to Stiles were ‘You drool in your sleep’, and really, their relationship hasn’t evolved a lot since then.

That was a lie.

Stiles trusted Derek with his life, considering he has saved it a couple of times. And he saved the werewolf’s just as many. They fought side by side many times, Derek has been there since the quest for the lightning bolt, but he was… an odd guy.

Over the years, Stiles got used to his cold personality and he learned to read Derek’s eyebrows, because most times, they were the only things that expressed emotions. He got used to Derek’s snarky sense of humor (because it resembles Stiles’, he is aware), and to the insults that sometimes, were even said fondly. They fought a lot, but they also thought the same and they worked brilliantly side by side in battle.

At the end of the day, they were equals. Even if Derek was a couple of years older, and even if he had a couple of years of camp over Stiles.

Recently, Stiles realized that what he felt for Derek wasn’t just a friendship, it wasn’t just the trust that grew on the battle field.

After the Titan War ended, when Derek sat next to him at the Poseidon table… did Stiles mention that yet? Yeah, his real dad is Poseidon. Kind of a jerk, he met him on Olympus that one time. But he tried his best, there in the end, because Stiles was his only son. He was the only son of one of the Big Three, as campers called the three brothers: Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. It was kind of a big deal. Stiles was kind of a big deal. Anyway.

Stiles always ate alone at the Poseidon table, and he always slept alone in his cabin. Those were the rules at Camp.

Derek slept in the Hermes cabin, like all the kids who weren’t claimed yet. But Derek was never going to be claimed, and he may be a couple of years older than most of the campers, but he held the record of beads on his necklace, at 10. 

But after the Titan War, on their last night at Camp, Derek sat next to him at the Poseidon table. He didn’t say anything, and Stiles stared for a long while, as a very shocked silence fell over the rest of the camp. When he got his wits back, Stiles turned to Chiron. Who just smirked, the centurion didn’t start yelling at them for disobeying the rules.

They didn’t talk during the meal, not really, not even when Scott joined them. But before he left for the night, Derek put a hand on Stiles’ shoulder and told him a gruff ‘You can write to me’ before turning around and leaving without another word, the tips of his ears red.

That was the moment when Stiles realized that the way his heart skipped every time Derek touched him wasn’t normal.

He tried Iris-Messaging Derek, at first. But after the first three times he caught him in the middle of a training match, Stiles gave up.

So he wrote to Derek. Every month, he wrote a long letter, and sent it to Camp. The werewolf always answered, but it was lacking, as Derek usually was with words. Half a page informing Stiles that everything was okay at Camp, paired with some sort of insult and a stiff farewell.

At one point, Stiles didn’t get a reply for three weeks, and all the explanation he got from Derek afterwards was “I haven’t been at Camp".

Still, Stiles enjoyed Derek’s letters.

He liked how Derek’s first letter was signed _Respectfully, Derek Hale_. But even more, he liked how the next letters were signed more and more unprofessionally, and Stiles loved how the last one was signed _Derek, who still doesn’t understand why he became your friend_.

But they haven’t seen each other since last year.

And Stiles has been back at Camp Half-Blood for a whole day, and he still hasn’t seen Derek, at lunch, at dinner, at the campfire, or anytime in between.

Chiron told him that Derek requested some time to resolve a personal matter. Scott said he’d been gone for a week and that he should be back soon.

Stiles went to bed that first night slightly scared and annoyed that Derek didn’t tell him anything.

 

**S  T  I  L  E  S**

Three days later, he woke up with a yelp, to someone knocking on his cabin door.

Stiles really didn’t expect to see Derek on the other side of the door, but there he was.

In his usual leather jacket and his way too tight pair of jeans. He was smiling, but he looked awful. Exhausted. There were dark bags under his eyes, his hair was a mess and he was holding a cup of Starbucks.

‘Please tell me you didn’t go off camp just to get me apology-coffee.’

Derek, unsurprisingly, rolled his eyes while all but shoving the cup into Stiles’ hand.

‘I have nothing to apologize for’, he said gruffly, ‘and we stopped on our way here.’

Stiles took the coffee, he was grateful for it, considering it was so early in the morning that the sun wasn’t even fully up yet, but something with that sentence didn’t sit well with him, so he repeated it in his head twice.

Finally, he got it. ‘We?’

Derek nodded.

‘My mother drove me here. Well’, he frowned, ‘she’s not really my mother, she died when I was a baby. This is the werewolf that took me in her pack after that, gave me her name and taught me to control my shift.’

Stiles’ jaw was on the floor, because this was the first he ever heard of this. Derek was very private, all the little information Stiles had about his past was wrestled out of Scott.

‘They’re waiting for us in the Big House’, Derek went on, ignoring Stiles’ shock. ‘Scott’s already there.’

‘What?’, Stiles found his voice.

‘I…’, Derek hesitated. ‘Chiron and my mother will explain better.’

‘Explain what?’

Derek sighed and looked away. ‘I need you there, Stiles. Please.’

And, really, he couldn’t say anything else to that, because it was so out of character for Derek, to ask for help, to say ‘please’, to say he needed Stiles?!! What?

Stiles’ brain was fried. So he shoved his feet into his sneakers, took a few extra seconds to change the shirt he slept in, and closed the door behind himself, before following Derek to the Big House.

 

**S  T  I  L  E  S**

Chiron looked a lot more awake than Stiles felt. Scott, bless his heart, was snoring with his head in his hands. Derek wordlessly slapped the back of his head, effectively waking him up.

There were three women around the ping pong table, and Stiles took a few seconds to look at them.

At first look, they all looked like Derek: with the same dark hair and bright blue eyes. But upon closer inspection, the youngest girl actually had brown eyes, and neither of their features didn’t resemble Derek’s in any way.

Stiles didn’t know how he knew they were all werewolves, but he did.

There was an older woman, probably the same age as Stiles’ dad, who was wearing a business suit and high stiletto heels. She imposed respect with just a look, and Stiles was a little terrified of her.

To her right stood a younger woman, who was probably just a few years older than Derek. She was dressed normally, in jeans and a leather jacket (Stiles was going to ask if Derek started the trend or not), and she was glaring at Stiles. He was mildly scared, he could probably handle her, he did have his trusty Riptide in his pocket.

And finally, sitting on the ping pong table, with her feet crossed and her hands filled with chocolate chip cookies, there was the youngest, she couldn’t have been more than 9 years old. She was the only one of the Hales that didn’t have blue eyes, and she was adorable, wearing a Sponge Bob t-shirt and squishing a big Hulk plushie between her legs. Stiles loved her already.

‘Stiles’, Derek said, ‘this is Talia Hale, my mother, and my sisters, Laura’, he pointed to the older one, ‘and Cora’. Derek made his way to the ping pong table, sitting behind Cora’s back and casually resting his hand on top of her leg.

Derek was the least tactile person he knew, it took a long, long while for the wolf to not freak out when Stiles touched him, so it took him a few seconds to get over his shock. When he did, he smiled, and extended a hand to Derek’s mother.

‘Mrs. Hale, it’s a pleasure’. The older woman smiled respectfully and gently shook his hand, and when she let go, Stiles turned to Derek’s sisters.

He bowed dramatically, lowering his head and everything, moving his hands in a flourish, while saying a very heartfelt ‘My ladies’. It got an eye roll from Derek and Laura, but Cora giggled, so Stiles grinned.

‘We are sorry for the early wakeup call’, Talia tilted her head, ‘but we thought it was best to not delay it.’

‘No problem’, Stiles shrugged. ‘What’s… what’s wrong?’

Talia narrowed her eyes at him. ‘How much do you know about our world?’

‘Not much’, Stiles blinked, ‘considering Derek doesn’t talk a lot about it. I just found out you existed three minutes ago.’

Surprisingly, that made the woman smile. ‘Don’t be mad at him for that. He was just doing as I asked, we take great care of our secrets.’

‘Understandably’, Stiles nodded. ‘We know all about that here, at Camp Half-Blood.’

He couldn’t help but be sarcastic, because really, if she thought demigods weren’t good at keeping secrets, she was probably stupider than she looked. Although Derek stiffened at his tone, Talia ignored it completely.

‘Of course, if any problem arises, we like to keep it in-house.’

‘You mean in pack’, Stiles couldn’t help but point out. His ADHD was worse in the mornings, always.

‘Yes.’, Talia nodded. ‘But, now…’

She trailed off, looking to Derek.

‘There’s been a prophecy’, the wolf said. ‘It’s why I went home’

Stiles sighed. ‘Of course there was. Let’s hear it.’

Chiron was the one to recite it, in his usual straight, emotionless voice, staring at a point on the ceiling.

> ‘ _A quest of six at dawn shall leave,_  
>  _For the triskelion they shall bleed._  
>  _The half-blood of the eldest gods,_  
>  _His satyr and four shape shifting beasts._  
>  _To sail the waters from the Black Forest,_  
>  _To lose the breath of the dearest,_  
>  _To shake under the strength of a secret._  
>  _To find what is most sacred._ ’

Everybody was silent for a long while. The ones who have heard the prophecy before were looking to the ground, while the ones who heard it the first time, just Stiles, Scott and Cora, were looking wild eyed at them.

Stiles was staring at Derek, Scott was frowning at Stiles, and Cora was looking at her mother.

She startled everyone by standing up on the table and grabbing Derek’s hands, wrapping them around her waist, forcing him to hug her.

‘I don’t like it’, she said. ‘It sounds dangerous.’

‘It doesn’t say much’, Stiles’ brain started working. ‘It’s an oddly long prophecy, and it doesn’t tell us a lot. A possible team, a possible location, someone bleeding, someone dying, some shocking plot twists, the usual.’

Everybody was staring at him. Scott kept telling him, that he could get inconsiderate sometimes, and Stiles did try to control himself, but it wasn’t working, apparently. Cora was staring at him with a horrified expression on her face.

‘Oh, sweetie, don’t worry.’, he tried to smile at her, and in a spark of inspiration, controlled the water that was in a carafe on the table, forming a nice rose and lifting it to her face.

‘I’m sure we can handle anything that comes our way.’

‘Who’s we?’, Laura said, rather pointedly, and Stiles reluctantly controlled the water back in its container.

‘Well I’m the only son of the eldest gods, and Scott’s clearly my satyr. Right, buddy?’

Scott didn’t hesitate in nodding and extending his fist for Stiles to bump, which he did. Then, he turned to Talia.

‘And I assume the shifting beasts will be from your pack, right? Cause, I also assume the triskelion has something to do with you.’

Talia raised an eyebrow. ‘Why do you assume that?’

Stiles sighed, aggravated. He didn’t like it when people underestimated him.

‘Because Derek has it tattooed on his back and Laura has it on her wrist.’

Talia turned to Derek, who shook his head. ‘I never told him anything.’

‘Of course he didn’t’, Stiles raised an eyebrow at the woman, ‘I already told you that. I just… googled it.’

Cora giggled, turning her head so she could whisper to Derek. They all heard her, though, telling her brother that she liked Stiles. It made Stiles smirk, even if he was blushing.

Finally, Talia sighed. ‘Something of mine has been stolen. Something important, that could cause a lot of trouble if it got into the wrong hands. I need your help to get it back.’

‘Of course’, Stiles didn’t hesitate. ‘But we're going to need more information.’

‘Of course’, Talia countered, ‘Derek will tell you everything when he comes back.’

‘Come back from where?’, Derek asked.

‘You’re coming home’, Talia told him. ‘For a day or two more, so we can decide who will join you on this quest. And to say goodbye to your family.’

‘Don’t act like he’s not coming back’, Stiles couldn’t help but say, fairly angry.

Talia’s eyes snapped to him, and they flashed red.

‘You know, child, as an Alpha I’m not used to having humans talk to me like that.’

‘What’s an Alpha?’, Stiles raised an eyebrow, unperturbed.

‘The leader of a pack of werewolves’, Cora said, like she was reciting from a lesson she learned. ‘The Alpha rules the pack, guides them and keeps them safe. She’s the strongest and she’s the wisest.’

‘Cool’, Stiles nodded, winking at Cora before turning back to look at Talia. ‘Sorry ‘bout that, Mrs. Hale. I’ve been told I have an issue with authority.’

‘And who told you that?’, Laura asked.

‘My dad.’

Talia’s eyes were still red as she smirked. ‘Posidon or Sheriff Stilinski?’

‘Both’, Stiles frowned. ‘How did you…’

‘We live in Beacon Valley’, Talia kept smirking. ‘I’m an attorney; I work with your father sometimes. I wouldn’t be here if he wouldn’t have assured me you could be trusted with this.’

Stiles huffed. ‘Again, with the trust. Whatever, I’m not going to change your opinion right now.’

Talia chuckled. ‘You’re not even going to try?’

‘Nope’, Stiles shook his head. ‘Derek trusts me and I don’t really care about anything else.’

That made her eyes turn back to their normal color, and Stiles felt a wave of satisfaction.

‘So we’re good to go?’, he asked Talia, Derek and Chiron both.

They all nodded, and as a response, Stiles’ stomach growled.

‘Can I go to breakfast now?’

 

**D  E  R  E  K**

Derek has never been this nervous returning to Camp Half-Blood.

It was the middle of the night, and as soon as dawn broke, they’ll be leaving on a quest.

He really hoped that after the war, things will settle down. At least for a couple of years. No such luck.

But Derek couldn’t not do this, it was for his family. Finally, he will be able to repay Talia, for everything she did for him. There was no way this quest will fail, Derek will make sure of it.

At least Stiles and Scott will be there. The three of them, they were a good team. They’ve proved as much.

And, on top of that, the pack decided that the other three shifters sent will be Laura, Kira and Isaac. Laura and Isaac were both strong werewolves, and they were both very good friends to Derek. Kira was a fire kitsune, as strong as the rest of the wolves, even if her strengths were in a katana, not in her claws.

Derek felt terrified, as always before a quest. _To lose the breath of the dearest_ kept repeating itself on and on in his brain. And he knew, that by the end of this quest, they will have to fight a pack member. It was a new, horrible feeling.

He also had a feeling about what another line of the prophecy meant. _To shake under the strength of a secret_. Derek thought it was going to be about Stiles, about what Derek felt for him. He had managed to keep it a secret in all these years they’ve known each other. And he managed to keep it a secret from his family, as well. Laura kept trying to set him up with girls. His mother kept teasing him about it. He never said a word, he was too scared of it.

Still, even if Derek was right, he didn’t care. There was no way this quest was failing.

No way.

‘We’re here’, Laura’s voice startled Derek out of his thoughts, and when he looked out the window of the car, he was startled again, by Stiles, who had his entire face pressed into the window.

‘How can you possibly be this idiotic?’, Derek sighed.

‘Am not’, Stiles mumbled, not taking his cheek off the window.

Derek lowered the window. Stiles yelped and pulled away.

‘Is that the most powerful half-blood of his generation?’, Isaac asked from the back seat, incredibly incredulous.

‘Apparently’, it was Laura that answered.

‘He’s kinda cute’, Kira said, and Derek turned to glare at her.

Once again, he was startled by a knock on the window. This time, it was Scott.

‘Hurry up, guys. We have stuff to do before we head off.’

The satyr didn’t wait for an answer, before heading towards the Big House and dragging Stiles along with him.

‘Who was that?’, Isaac asked.

‘Scott’, Derek said. ‘He’s coming as well.’

‘He’s cuter than Stiles’, Kira said, and Derek sighed, before taking a deep breath and stepping out of the car.

 

**D  E  R  E  K**

There was breakfast waiting for them in the living room of the Big House. On the actual table, not on the ping pong one.

He introduced everyone, ignoring the way Isaac stared at Scott’s hooves and Kira stared at his smile, and sat them all down on couches and chairs, going as far as putting food on plates for his pack mates.

They ate in silence, fairly quickly, and by the end of it, everybody was staring at Derek.

‘Well?’, Stiles said, impatience evident. ‘Come on, man, your mom said you’ll tell us what this is all about.’

‘Right’, Derek sighed.

‘What’s a triskelion?’, Scott interrupted him before he could even start. ‘I mean, I know that’s the sign on your back, but what does it mean? Stiles didn’t explain it.’

Derek raised an eyebrow at Stiles.

‘I assumed it was personal’, he shrugged, and it made Derek hesitate long enough for Laura to start talking.

‘It’s the symbol of the Hale pack’, she said. ‘It’s an old symbol, though, used by druids in ancient times, and it means different things for everyone. For the Hales, it means Alpha, Beta and Omega. A reminder, that every wolf can rise, but can also fall: A Beta can become an Alpha, or an Alpha can fall down to be an Omega.’

‘So you’re all Betas’, Scott said, slowly.

‘I’m not a wolf’, Kira pointed out. ‘I’m a kitsune, but I still refer to Talia as an Alpha.’

‘What’s a kitsune?’, Scott asked, staring at her with big eyes.

‘Fox’, Stiles said, surprising everyone. ‘Don’t look at me like that, I’ve been obsessed with games of the mythical-creatures variety since I was 4.’

‘Right’, Kira chuckled. ‘I’m a fox, a trickster. A thunder fox, actually. I can produce a bit of electricity’, she sparked a blue light between her fingertips. ‘And I’m wicked with a sword.’

‘And you’re a werewolf?’, Stiles asked Isaac, who nodded.

‘I can fight, not as well as Derek. And I can handle a sword, not as well as Kira.’

‘Don’t sell yourself short’, Stiles said, once again surprising everyone. ‘You wouldn’t be here if your pack didn’t think you were capable, right?’

‘Right’, Laura said cheerfully, ruffling Isaac’s hair.

‘Derek’, Chiron said, ‘please explain what the quest entails.’

He took a deep breath, trying his best to gather his thoughts.

‘An ancient artifact has been stolen from our pack. It’s a necklace, hundreds of years old, made by the first Hale Alpha. It has power, it makes werewolves… unstoppable. It gives them strength, physical and mental, makes them smarter, more cunning. It gives them healing powers and speed-‘

‘More than usual?’, Stiles asked, and Derek nodded.

‘Great’, the demigod drawled, falling back against the couch.

‘Do you know who stole it?’, Scott asked.

‘My uncle’, Derek said, after hesitating a beat. ‘Talia’s brother, Peter.’

There was a pause.

‘Why?’, Stiles finally asked.

Derek couldn’t answer, so he looked to Laura for help.

‘He used to be our favorite uncle’, she started by saying. ‘He’s younger than mom, closer in age to us. He… used to prank us and he taught me how to drive and he … he gave us the sex talk, for god’s sake.’

Stiles snorted at that, but it was gone quickly, when he saw Laura’s face falling.

‘His wife died in a fire last year. He was devastated. He… He’s not right.’

‘He’s not feral’, Derek found his voice. ‘He still has logic, but he’s… on a wrong path.’

‘So we’re supposed to save him’, Stiles said. ‘Not kill him.’

‘If we can’, Derek tilted his head. ‘Mom knows how…  she told us to do what we can.’

‘Okay’, Stiles said, easily. ‘Do we know where we can find him?’

‘Not yet’, Derek said. ‘The prophecy speaks about the river Danube, it crosses Europe. Mom reached out to her contacts, hopefully by the time we cross the ocean, she’ll be able to give us a location.’

‘How are we getting to Europe?’, Scott asked.

‘A boat.’

Stiles’ eyes lit up in excitement. ‘What kind of a boat?’

‘The kind that comes with its own crew’, Derek said, and Stiles pouted.

‘But-‘

‘No’, Derek rolled his eyes. ‘Mom has a lot of money, and we’re using it.’

Stiles still pouted.

‘The crew knows about us’, Derek amended. ‘We’re bound to encounter some monsters on the way, so we’ll be able to fight them, but you need to keep up your strengths for that.’

Stiles nodded, but then he narrowed his eyes at the wolves and Kira.

‘Are you guys ready for this?’, he asked softly, stopping their snappy resorts. ‘I just meant that you’re not used to dealing with monsters.’

‘Yes we are’, Laura said forcefully. ‘Things in the supernatural world aren’t all sunshine and rainbows.’

‘You’re not used to dealing with out monsters’, Stiles insisted.

‘Which is why’, Chiron intervened, ‘you will all be getting weapons made out of celestial bronze’.

And with that, they started gathering supplies.

 

**D  E  R  E  K**

The first four days were surprisingly calm. No storms, no monsters, just the six of them getting to know each other in the middle of the Atlantic.

Eating all the meals together, playing cards in the evenings, fighting over coffee in the mornings.

Laura and Stiles snarling at each other until Derek physically steps between them. Kira and Scott awkwardly flirting, without either of them realizing they’re doing it. Isaac and Scott talking for hours on end about things Derek can’t keep up with. Stiles and Isaac trying to up each other at every possible step. Kira and Stiles training with their swords, always coming out of it with a grin. Laura taking Scott under her wing, acting like the big sister that she is.

Stiles and Derek low-key flirting like they usually are. Derek and Scott arguing like they usually do.

Things were good.

And then, on the morning of day 5, Derek woke up to Stiles’ frantic screaming, and to the boat shaking violently.

When he got on deck, he saw that Stiles was standing on top of the control room, and he had tied himself to the ship with a rope. On the lower deck, his pack was staring at Stiles, struggling to hold onto the railing. Scott was by their side, frowning profoundly.

‘What is it?’, Derek asked when he got to their side.

‘Sea serpent’, Scott yelled back, making Derek groan.

‘Again?’

‘Yeah’, Scott said, still frowning. ‘He’s not listening to Stiles.’

‘He can talk to that thing?’, Laura shrieked, almost losing her footing, but Isaac caught her at the last moment.

‘HOLD ON!’, Stiles yelled at them, adopting a position Derek knew meant he was going to attack soon. ‘IT’S GOING TO GET BUMPY!’

‘IT ALLREADY IS, YOU MORON’, Laura yelled back good naturally, but she also strengthened her hold on the railing.

Derek couldn’t help but stare at Stiles. He knew how powerful the demigod was, he’s seen him in action hundreds of times, by this point. But he always felt a bit of awe.

Because when Stiles was fighting with water, he wasn’t just strong. He wasn’t just stubborn and set on winning. When he controlled the seas, Stiles was _playing_. His strength was still evident, but there was a childish excitement to it. Derek really doesn’t know why he finds it so attractive.

Coming back to himself, Derek saw that Stiles has lifted the water around the serpent, so that the monster was now suspended 20 feet in the air.

The boat had settled, so Stiles didn’t have to scream as loudly to make himself heard.

‘Kill or spare?’, he asked.

Derek shared a look with Scott.

‘Why didn’t it listen to you?’, Derek asked.

‘I think it’s senile’, Stiles said.

‘That makes no sense’, Laura pointed out, but she didn’t know better, she didn’t know how Stiles’ powers worked, how he knew everything about anything that lived in his father’s seas.

‘Spare’, Derek finally said, and Scott nodded next to him. ‘Away from cruising lines?’

Stiles nodded, looked around in the water for a couple of seconds, and then threw the serpent away.

Derek saw it hitting the water, but it took a while, and he knew it was miles and miles away.

Stiles untied himself and slowly lowered himself back on deck. Of course he stumbled just as his legs hit the ground, but Derek was there to catch him.

‘We should hurry’, he told the captain, who Derek only now noticed had come onto the deck as well.

‘I don’t think it’s going to be able to catch up with us’, Stiles went on, ‘but it’ll try.’

The captain nodded, quickly heading back inside.

‘That was crazy’, Kira shrieked, making Stiles grin at her.

He wanted to say something in return, but Derek didn’t let him, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the mess hall.

‘You need rest and ambrosia.’, he said with authority, and even though his back was to the other boy, he knew Stiles was rolling his eyes. But thankfully, Stiles didn’t protest.

 

**L  A  U  R  A**

It wasn’t that Laura hated Stiles. She didn’t.

She knew he was powerful, the thing with the sea serpent proved it, as well as every time she saw him training with Kira or Derek.

She knew he was smart, he proved that every day.

It’s just that Laura kind of hates the way Stiles treats Derek.

No, that was a lie.

Stiles treats Derek like he holds the sun. Like he’s precious and needs protection. It’s all hidden under sarcastic insults and bad jokes, but Laura can see it clearly, how much Stiles cares about Derek.

But she hates the fact that Stiles doesn’t do anything about it. She doesn’t know if there’s something more than friendship between them, not for sure. But it is a pretty good assumption, considering she can hear their heart beats speeding up when the other one step into the room, and she can sense attraction every time the other one takes off his shirt during training.

It’s kind of ridiculous.

And the worst part of it is Derek. How different he is around Stiles.

Laura knew Derek changed, in the years he spent at Camp. Every time he came to visit, she saw how much he grew up. Not just physically, but emotionally. He was still as closed off and shy as he usually was, but he was better at dealing with people.

But with Stiles, it was something completely different. Derek seemed happy. Happy to be yelling at Stiles, happy to be at the end of his insults, happy to watch him spar with Kira, happy to watch him and Scott tackle each other to the ground in a tickle fight.

Laura hated Stiles for not giving more to Derek. But that thought changed easily, one night.

It was the last one before they were set to dock in Amsterdam. Come 2 AM, Laura couldn’t sleep, so she headed up on the deck, sat on the ground under a light, and read for a while.

She wouldn’t have heard them if she wasn’t a werewolf, but she did.

‘I’m scared’, Stiles said.

‘We’ll be fine.’, Derek countered.

‘Oh, I know. I just meant that I’m scared that we’ll be on land. I’m… better on water.’

‘Well’, Laura could hear the smile in Derek’s voice, ‘we’ll stick close to the Danube. We have to. That counts, right?’

‘It’s not the same thing.’

‘Yeah’, Derek agreed, and then they were silent for a while.

‘I’m sorry’, Derek said next.

Stiles huffed. ‘I would’ve been here even if it wasn’t for the prophecy, and you know it.’

‘Yeah?’

‘Of course, dude.’, Stiles said, overly cheerful. ‘After all we’ve been through, I don’t think I’ll let you go any time soon.’

They were silent for a while, and when Stiles spoke again, all cheerfulness was gone from his voice.

‘You don’t believe me.’

‘I do’, Derek said. ‘I know you’re telling the truth, I can hear your heart beat. But…’

‘But what?’, Stiles insisted, and Laura was surprised by the amount of hurt his voice was displaying.

‘But I know you’re going to grow up’, Derek finally said. ‘You’re 16. In two years, you’ll be leaving Camp for good, moving around the country, probably, going to college. You’ll forget… Well, no, I don’t think you’ll ever forget Camp, but your life will have different priorities.’

Stiles sighed, deeply. ‘And you thinking this… does it have anything to do with the reason you left your pack? Moved to Camp?’

Derek didn’t answer, but Laura knew that the answer was an affirmative one. Stiles must know as well, because he laughed, bitterly.

‘You know, it doesn’t hurt me that you won’t tell me. Not that much. What hurts more is that you think that after all we’ve been through, I could just let go of you.’

‘Stiles, I-‘

‘No’, he cut Derek off. ‘I’ve tried everything, Derek, everything I could possibly think of, to make you understand how much I care about you, to make you understand that I would do anything for you. I’d jump into the pits of Tartarus if that’s what you’d ask of me. I don’t get why you can’t understand that!’

‘I’m sorry’, Derek said, and Laura barely heard it, even with her werewolf hearing.

‘Just…’, Stiles sighed. ‘Let’s go to bed. It’s a big day tomorrow.’

Laura got everything wrong, clearly. She just hoped that by the end of this quest, she’d be able to shove some sense into her bother.

 

**S  T  I  L  E  S**

The first thing they did after their legs hit the ground was to stare at Derek. Who was busy handing them care packages. That’s what Stiles called them, anyway.

There was a key ring, on a simple black lanyard. On the key ring (which, upon further inspection, was made out of celestial bronze), there were three things.

Firstly, there was a little transparent envelope with a black credit card in it. The pack didn’t even react to it, but Stiles stared, because he knew that black meant no limit, while Scott was just very confused. Derek just shrugged, once again saying that his mom was rich.

Secondly, there was a small pendant, made out of celestial bronze as well, shaped as a triskelion. 'To remember what we're looking for', Derek said, but Stiles didn't think that was it. He thought it was more something among the lines of 'he who holds this is protected by the Hale pack'. Judging by Laura's smirk, Stiles was probably right.

Lastly, there was a small plastic bag with a piece of ambrosia in it. Which was weird, because he was the only one in the group who could eat it. Still, he said nothing of it.

The rest of the guys were looking at Derek like he was insane. Stiles didn’t. He just shrugged and safely secured the lanyard around one of his belt loops, putting the bundle in his pocket.

After that, Laura did all the talking as they rented a car. It was a hilariously horrible thing, a black minivan that could fit the six of them and their bags. Laura and Derek were the only ones who could drive, and both of them said that the car was surprisingly fast.

Stiles started referring to it as Hale-Mobile. It stuck, much to Derek’s annoyance. 

They spent a lot of time driving. Really, it only took two days for Stiles to know the back of the Hale-Mobile like the back of his hand and it was torture.

He had ADHD, it came with the territory of being  a half-blood. So he hasn’t been able to sit still, ever. And now he was stuck in a van with three werewolves and a satyr, who had little patience and enhanced hearing. They heard if Stiles tapped his fingers against his thigh, if he bit his nails, if he bounced his leg, if he clicked his tongue. And they always told him to stop.

Stiles took up running. Every time they stopped for gas, Stiles would quickly go to the bathroom, ask whoever else was in the shop to get him chocolate, and run a couple of laps around the gas station, expelling all the pent up energy he had.

But it didn’t help much. Which each passing mile, Stiles felt more and more anxious. He was scared, but also excited. He felt depressed, but also happy. He missed his dad, but he was glad Derek and Scott were by his side.

Sometimes, he wanted to bash Isaac’s head into the ground. Other times, he wanted to hug the wolf. Sometimes, he thought Kira would be a perfect match for Scott. Other times, he wanted to keep her as far away from the satyr as possible.

‘We should stop from the night’, Derek’s voice interrupted Stiles’ thoughts.

‘But-‘, Laura, who was driving, tried, but her brother didn’t let her.

‘Mom said she’d get us a location tomorrow, and we’re all close to losing our mind in the car.’

‘It’s dangerous’, Scott said. ‘To stop.’

Derek shrugged. ‘That’s why I found a camping site, at the base of those mountains’, he pointed out the window. ‘It’s 20 miles to the nearest road.’

‘Where are we?’, Stiles asked, and they all stared at him.

‘I’m sorry’, he rolled his eyes, ‘I’ve already gone crazy.’

‘Austria’, Derek said slowly. ‘We’re in Austria.’

‘Okay.’, Stiles nodded. ‘Please, let’s stop. I’m begging you.’

Laura sighed, but she also asked Derek for directions to the camping site.

**S  T  I  L  E  S**

It took some convincing (which meant a yelling match with Derek), but eventually, Stiles was allowed to go for a run while the rest set up camp. Of course, he wasn’t allowed to go alone, but Scott, bless his sweet heart, easily volunteered to jog with him.

And they did.

For three hours, Scott wordlessly followed Stiles around through the woods. Thankfully, nobody disturbed them, no monster tried to kill them.

It did wonders to Stiles’ mindset. He felt rejuvenated (even if he was physically exhausted and drowning in his own sweat), he felt stronger than before. He felt confident in their team and in the success of their quest.

So he had a grin on his face when they returned back to camp. Scott and he showered quickly, then offered to cook dinner, because they didn’t help at all with the raising of the tents and because Scott was oddly good at frying things on a camp fire.

Everybody fell asleep soon after. Except Stiles, of course. Of course.

He tossed and turned for an hour, then quit trying. He got out of his tent, and only when confronted to the eerie silence and darkness outside did Stiles realize that they made a mistake in not setting up a watch.

Yeah, they were in an a-grade camping site, there were employees just half a mile away, but monsters didn’t care for that.

So Stiles sighed, started back the fire and sat himself down for a sleepless night. He didn’t mind, if he was exhausted, maybe he’ll have an easier time in the car tomorrow.

He spent six hours in solitude, listening to the sound of the forest and to Scott’s snoring. He alternated between sitting down and walking around the camp, sticking close to the tents. At one point, he did some basic gymnastics, to get his blood flowing. One time, he pulled Riptide out of his pocket, just to have something to fiddle with.

He was about to gather some more wood from the fire when, as he turned his head around, he was met with a beautiful sight.

There was a young woman by his side. Short chopped black hair, light olive skin, chiseled cheekbones and gorgeous eyes, flickering between blue and green and gray. She looked like Derek.

‘Hey there, cutie’, she said in a sweet voice.

It worked for about a second.

Then, Stiles looked down. And saw that the woman had a donkey leg and a prosthetic one.

Stiles yelled, not in fear, but in hopes it’ll wake up his companions. And, sure enough, Derek was out of his tent in seconds, his sword in one hand and claws drawn.

They quickly fell into the well known pattern of fighting side by side, and it didn’t take long for the monster to shriek in horror, followed by it crumbling to the ground in a pile of dust.

Stiles and Derek shared a triumphant grin, as they both straightened their backs and sheathed their swards.

‘What was that thing?’, Kira said, and when Stiles turned, she was staring, only mildly scared.

‘Empousa’, Derek said. ‘Daughters of Hecate, the goddess of magic.’

‘Looked like a vampire, right?’, Stiles took over. ‘They drink men’s blood, after they seduce them. Nasty bitches.’

‘I didn’t know you fought that well’, Laura said, and when Stiles turned to her, he was surprised to see that she was looking at Derek.

Who merely raised an eyebrow.

‘I mean’, she tilted her head, ‘you always preferred training and fighting alone.’

Stiles smirked at that, as did Derek, albeit a lot more subdued.

‘I had to learn’, was all he said, before he started barking orders about packing up camp and leaving.

 

**S  T  I  L  E  S**

It didn’t take long for Stiles to figure out something was up with Laura. Don’t get him wrong, they didn’t get along, he realized that on day one.

He doesn’t know why, but it was clear that Laura didn’t like him much. Stiles can’t lie and say that he wasn’t bothered by it, but he kept his mouth shut.

Still, after last night, Laura stared at him. A lot. Like she was trying to read his mind or something. Sometimes, she stared at Derek too.

He confronted her during a gas break. Kira was around too, but thankfully, she got the message and kept to herself.

‘Look’, Stiles started, ‘I get that you don’t like me, and okay, that’s fine, that’s your choice. But this isn’t going to work if-‘

‘If what?’, Laura snapped, cold in her eyes.

‘If at some point during our quest, you’re going to hesitate while some monster or another has a metaphorical gun to my head, all because you don’t like me.’

Laura reared back, visibly.

‘I wouldn’t –‘

‘Are you sure?’, Stiles insisted, sighing after. ‘I know how this goes, cause it took me a while to earn Derek’s trust. But he never once hesitated.’

Laura growled, her eyes flashing. Stiles didn’t flinch.

‘I do not get you’, she growled in his face. ‘You act like he’s this … this-‘

‘What?’, Stiles’ anger kept growing too.

But Laura didn’t get to answer, because Derek put himself between them.

‘What is going on?’, he calmly asked his sister, keeping his back to Stiles.

Laura ignored Derek, tilting her head so that she could look Stiles in the eyes.

‘I’m not going to hesitate’, she said strongly, and Stiles couldn’t help but believe her.

‘But when this is all over’, Laura went on, ‘you and I are going to have a private conversation.’

‘Laura’, Derek growled, making her eyes snap to him.

‘You too, brother. You too.’

With that, she turned around and got into the car.

Derek sighed, before turning around and looking at Stiles.

‘I’m sorry.’

Stiles shook his head. ‘It’s fine, I provoked her. It’s… uh… we have more important things to worry about.’

Derek nodded. ‘I spoke to mom. We’re heading towards Romania.’

Stiles blinked. ‘I don’t think I ever heard that word before.’

The wolf rolled his eyes, and gently pushed him back towards the Hale-Mobile.

 

**D  E  R  E  K**

‘What’s in Romania?’, Kira asked.

‘What _is_ Romania?’, Isaac countered.

Derek sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

‘It’s a country, in Eastern Europe. It borders the Black Sea, and the Danube flows into it, forming an uncommon formation, called a delta.’

‘Like the Greek letter’, Scott bounced a bit in his car seat, grinning wildly.

Derek, despite himself, fought back a smile. ‘It’s a form of land that forms from deposition of sediment carried by the river as it flows into the sea.’

‘Sediment?’, Scott frowned.

‘Sand and stuff’, Stiles said easily, making the satyr nod in understanding.

‘So that’s where Peter is.’, Laura concluded.

‘No, mom said he’s in a small village in Transylvania.’, Derek shrugged.

‘Transylvania is in Romania?’, Stiles asked, frowning.

Derek nodded, raising an eyebrow.

‘That’s… I mean… to say that…’ Stiles started laughing.

Derek waited him out, he knew it was the best course of action.

‘That’s where vampires are from’, Stiles finally explained. ‘I mean, supposedly. They had a ruler back in the day, like, before Romania was actually formed as a country. They used to call him Vlad Dracul, which means “the devil”, or Vlad the Impaler. He used to kill people by impaling them on a spike. The legend of Dracula started with him.’

‘I thought you said you never heard of Romania’, Derek couldn’t help but point out.

Stiles grinned, and Derek struggled to ignore the butterflies in his stomach.

‘I said I never heard the name. I read about it, but I never heard it said out loud.’ His face fell. ‘Wait! Are vampires real?’

‘Stiles’, Derek sighed.

‘No, I mean, are they real in your world?’

Derek… was surprised by how much he didn’t like the way Stiles formulated that. But Laura caught that train of thought by explaining than no, vampires were probably not real, their pack never encountered any.

‘Whatever’, Scott said, pointedly. ‘What is Peter doing in Romania?’

‘No idea’, Derek sighed, feeling suddenly tired.

There were too many unknown variables. They were basically going in blind, their only plan was to take the necklace and deal with everything else. Derek felt powerless. He didn’t like the feeling.

‘Dracula isn’t the only fairytale that came out of Romania’, Stiles said, obviously thinking. ‘I mean, every country has its folklore. You said the necklace was used by druids.’

Derek nodded.

‘Did you ever think about what druids are?’, Stiles asked easily. ‘I mean, in the world of gods.’

Derek frowned, deeply.

‘Pan’, Scott said, grinning. ‘They’re magic, right? Druids. They used the elements-‘

‘Mostly the Earth’, Stiles pointed a finger.

‘Right’, Scott nodded. ‘So the druids must have been followers of Pan. Maybe even satyrs. Makes sense.’

‘It makes absolutely no sense’, Laura shook her head.

‘It kinda does’, Derek said, still trying to wrap his brain about it.

‘So who knows what other powerful things are in Romania?’, Stiles finished.

‘That…’, Derek sighed. ‘That doesn’t tell us anything helpful.’

‘No, it doesn’t.’, Stiles agreed. ‘But it tells us to keep our eyes open.’ He spared a look to Laura. ‘We might encounter things from our world, not just yours.’

 

**D  E  R  E  K**

They stopped one village before the one Peter was staying in. At a bed and breakfast, because it was the only place they could stop at, par from the side of the road. And Laura argued that they’d need their strengths for the next day.

So they rented a couple of rooms, which coincidentally was an entire villa. The couple who were in charge of the b&b, sweet people who were past their youth, they were nice and smiling, but didn’t spoke any English. Thankfully, they had a daughter, about Stiles’ age, who knew the language.

Even if they had the living room at their disposal, they ate dinner outside. The b&b keepers all looked pretty frazzled, when their group decided to just ignore the carefully set table in the dining room, and take all the plates on the porch.

‘It’s fine’, the young girl said. ‘It’s just… weird.’

‘Well we are weird’, Stiles grinned at her, making her smile instantly. ‘We just really like the great outdoors. We won’t… break anything, we promise.’

And that was that.

They all sat down, stuffed their bellies with foreign food and … lingered. It was a nice place, Derek was able to appreciate it. The b&b had several villas, all set around a large garden. In the one to their left, there were a couple of families with toddlers, so Derek always heard the sounds of children laughing. On the villa to their right, there were a few couples who were stupidly drunk.

But the air was fresh, the slight chill of the evening calming Derek down.

He made no move to help the girls when they decided to clear the mess, Scott got that covered. So Derek made his way down the steps of the porch, and sat down on the ground, laying on his back. His nose was instantly filled with the smell of grass, and that… it helped.

Derek felt lighter. He didn’t feel exhausted anymore. There was anxiousness, yes, they were on a quest, and he didn’t know what the next day will bring, what meeting Peter will bring. But he trusted the people around them.

Laura and Kira, who were bickering over who gets to wash the dishes, even as the keeper’s daughter insisted they didn’t need to.

Scott and Isaac, who were talking about a Pink Floyd album.

And Stiles who was… sitting down next to him.

‘You okay, big guy?’, he asked softly, voice lowered, like he didn’t want to disturb the silence.

Derek nodded.

It took a couple of seconds, but Stiles lowered himself on the ground next to him, their shoulders brushing.

‘Are you having some sort of meltdown?’, he asked, and Derek smiled.

‘Nope.’

There was a pause. ‘Are you sure? Cause this is very out of character for you.’

‘I just wanted a moment of peace before Hades' nightmares break out tomorrow.’

‘Should I leave?’, Derek didn’t know how to interpret the disappointment in Stiles’ voice.

‘It’s fine’, he said, and he felt Stiles settle back down.

He was ashamed by it, but Derek breathed Stiles in. He smelled like he always did, like the sea on a cold spring morning. Now, on top of that, Stiles smelled like the cakes he ate for dinner, like the only glass of wine Laura let him drink, like Scott and like Kira.

Stiles also smelled excited. He usually did, Derek came to learn. All demigods did, because of their ADHD, probably. But with Stiles, it was always more strong.

Derek was so wrapped up in Stiles, he didn’t hear the footsteps. So he was startled by a weight suddenly dropping on his stomach. He hesitated for a second before attacking, which was good, because the crying sounds registered.

When he gathered himself, Derek saw Stiles wrapping his arms around the child who fell on his stomach. She was a little thing, with blonde ponytails and a stuffed bunny in her arms, and she was bawling.

‘Come on, baby girl’, Stiles cooed, settling the girl on his knees. ‘It’s just a small booboo, it’ll be gone before you know it, I promise.’

Only then did Derek realize that the girl had a scratch on her knee, probably from when she fell on the ground.

‘It hurts’, she wailed, and Stiles strengthened his hold on her.

‘Does your mom use her kisses to heal owies?’, he asked sweetly, his scent turning to misery for a beat. It always did, when Stiles mentioned mothers.

The little girl nodded.

‘Well’, Stiles smiled at her, ‘mommy kisses are always the best, but he’, he pointed a finger at Derek. ‘He’s magic!’

The little girl’s eyes snapped to Derek, looking at him in awe.

‘So his kisses are magic too’, Stiles went on, winking at him.

‘Really?’, the girl asked, and Derek nodded.

‘Let me show you’, he said, as he put a hand on her leg. He bent down and kissed the scratch, letting his lips linger as he drained the pain away through his hand.

When he pulled away, the girl patted his cheek, twice.

‘Thank you, Mr. Wizard.’

He chuckled, how couldn’t he? ‘It was my pleasure, sweetie.’

She preened at that, and Stiles grinned at him, before picking the girl up and taking her back to their parents.

Gods almighty, Derek was so gone for Stiles. It wasn’t even the fact that he would do anything for him, it was the fact that he wanted to do everything.

He knew Stiles would let him. To a point, at least.

Stiles always fought for Derek. For his trust, for his friendship, for his safety.

So why was it so hard for Derek to give him what he wanted?

 

**S  T  I  L  E  S**

He extended a hand to help Derek get up from the ground, but the wolf didn’t take it. He didn’t even look at Stiles.

‘You want to know why I left my pack’, Derek said, taking Stiles completely off-guard.

He crouched in front of Derek, but the wolf still didn’t look at him. When he spoke, he spoke slowly, clearly measuring his words, clearly having trouble saying them. So Stiles stayed quiet and listened.

‘Talia never hid from me, the fact that she wasn’t my real mother. She always called me her son, said that a mother is the woman who changes your diapers and hugs you when you cry. And it was okay. I grew up learning how to be a wolf, with a pack around me. ‘

‘But when I was 10, I met a dryad in the woods. She … she came out of a tree and wanted to play. That was a good day.’, Derek smiled, and it broke Stiles’ heart, a little.

‘When I got home’, the wolf went on, ‘I was excited, telling my mother about my new friend. My first friend. She didn’t believe me.’

‘How could she?’, Stiles said as softly as he could. ‘It’s pretty crazy, even for werewolves.’

‘Yeah’, Derek nodded. ‘I was angry, though. I always had a problem with anger, learning control, but that… I was never as angry as I was then.’

‘I closed myself off. Ignored the pack, spent as much time in the woods as I could. Until one day, when I couldn’t find the dryad anymore.’

Derek swallowed thickly, and Stiles put a comforting hand on his knee. The wolf didn’t flinch, he didn’t even seem to be aware of the touch.

‘The next day’, Derek went on, staring at a spot next to Stiles’ knee. ‘Chiron came. Explained everything. How they’ve been looking for me since I was born, how the dryad told the camp. So I left.’

‘Because you were angry.’, Stiles said, slowly.

Derek shook his head. ‘Because I was scared. I was scared I would never be able to love my pack the way they love me. Feeling so much anger towards them, it wasn’t normal. That’s… that’s not what pack is supposed to be. Pack is supposed to be family, and safety and friends. Having someone to help you, to care for you. Trust and love. And I couldn’t…’

‘You were ten, Derek’, Stiles tried. ‘You were a child.’

‘Doesn’t matter’, the wolf shrugged. ‘I left because I thought I’d fit in better at Camp.’

Stiles flinched. Derek wasn’t the son of a god, not directly. Chiron probably didn’t know what to do with him, so the Hermes cabin was the safest bet. Not even now, when more cabins were built for more gods, it didn’t make a difference. Being in the Hermes cabin didn’t mean Derek fit in. Not even remotely.

‘Yeah’, Derek nodded, probably knowing what Stiles was thinking.

‘But you stayed’, Stiles pointed out. ‘You stayed at Camp, and you still kept in touch with your pack.’

‘It never felt…’, Derek didn’t finish, closing his eyes.

‘Like you belonged’, Stiles finished.

‘You understand’, Derek looked at him, for the first time.

‘I’m pretty sure all demigods do’, Stiles smiled. When Derek didn’t say anything, his smile fell. ‘What do you want me to say?’

‘Nothing’, Derek sighed, looking away again. ‘I… just needed to tell you.’

Stiles’ heart did a weird jump in his chest, louder than ever before. Derek probably heard it, but he didn’t react at all.

‘You’re a loner, Derek’, Stiles said, trying his best not to sound… rude. ‘I’ve known you for years, and you… it’s not that you don’t have friends, it’s that you don’t let people be your friend.’

Derek didn’t say anything. He was looking at Stiles with wide eyes, anger clear in them, but there was also a tremble in his bottom lip, so Stiles pushed on.

‘You don’t see what I see, okay? You don’t see the little kids in the Hermes cabin worshiping the ground you walk on. You don’t see the Ares kids stepping over themselves for a chance to train with you. You don’t see the Aphrodite girls trying to get your attention, or how every demigod you have ever saved in battle tries to thank you.’

‘And your pack’, Stiles breathed out. ‘You may not be family, but Laura loves you just as well. Cora almost didn’t let you leave on this quest and your mother, she trusted you with this. Not because you’re a half-blood, but because she knows you’re fully capable of succeeding.’

Stiles hit Derek’s knee. It wasn’t hard, but it startled the wolf, making him jump.

‘Why can’t you see how special you are? How amazing and…’

He stopped, suddenly. Because he heard a gasp. When Stiles turned around, he saw their friends staring at them from the porch of the house. It was Laura that gasped, probably, because she was the only one who had a hand over her mouth.

Stiles took a deep breath and willed his heart to slow down.

He didn’t like the way Derek was looking at him. He looked stricken, in pain. He clearly didn’t understand.

‘Thank you for telling me’, Stiles whispered. With that, he ran out of there.

 

**S  T  I  L  E  S**

Scott came into their shared room ten minutes later.

He wordlessly changed into his pajamas, completely ignoring Stiles, who was curled up in his bed under two layers of blankets, even if it was summer.

Scott got into bed, and he was silent for a couple of minutes. When he spoke, Stiles struggled to hear it, but that meant that the werewolves in the house didn’t hear him either.

‘You’ll get through to him. Because he cares about you just as much as you care for him.’

Stiles wasn’t sure about it.

He didn’t want to get through to Derek. He wanted Derek to love him. Because Stiles loved Derek.

He had no idea when he realized it. No idea why he didn’t question it. No idea why he didn’t feel anxious about it.

Stiles just accepted it. Accepted it as the undeniable truth. He was in love with Derek Hale.

And it was impossible for Derek to ever return the feeling. Which didn’t make Stiles feel as desperately depressed as he thought it would.

Instead, Stiles just felt sad. Because he knew he and Derek could be good.

He fell asleep surprisingly quickly, absently aware of Scott’s arm stretched over to his bed, resting on Stiles’ shoulder.

 

**L  A  U  R  A**

To say that things were awkward in the morning was an understatement. Derek and Stiles wouldn’t meet each other’s eyes, and the anguish coming from the both clocked up Laura’s nose. But they couldn’t dwell on it, because they were closing in on Peter.

As soon as they drove into the village he was staying in, Derek caught his scent. He was always the best at that.

But they passed the village, and drove for a couple of more miles, moving deeply into the mountains. They ditched the Hale-Mobile at the side of the road, and following Derek, they went deep into the woods.

Laura kept at the back of the group, and she had to admit, it was a sight to see. They all had their swards drown, except for Stiles, who’s Riptide was still in pen form. Everybody was tense as hell, that was clear to Laura, but they were also determined. She could see it in the way they held their bodies, in the set of their shoulders and the strong pace of their feet and…

Stiles stumbled upon a root. He yelped, at first, then flailed for a bit, Laura saw Riptide fly from his hand and landing a few feet away. When Stiles hit the ground, he landed in a heap of leaves, that sort of jumped. As the leaves settled back on the ground and on his back, Stiles whined.

‘Earth’s mightiest heroes’, Isaac snorted.

‘You okay?’, Derek asked, still not looking at Stiles.

‘Yeah’, he grumbled, making no move to get up.

As Laura got to his side, she tried to hold in her laughter as she poked the tip of her boot into his side.

‘Come on, lover boy. We have work to do.’

Stiles got up and took a few steps, before freezing and looking at her with a frown.

‘Lover boy?’

Laura snickered, sharing an amused look with Kira, before making her way to Derek’s side. They were silent for a while, and Laura was surprised by the fact that he was the one to initiate conversation.

‘What’s going to happen?’

And wasn’t that the question of the hour. Laura sighed.

‘I have no idea.’

‘We have to save him’, Derek said, meeting her eyes.

‘Yeah’, Laura agreed. ‘But we are both realistic people, driven by our minds, not our hearts. That statement, what you just said, that’s your heart.’

Derek frowned deeply.

‘And yes’, Laura went on, ‘I’m not just talking about Peter.’

‘I don’t-‘

‘It doesn’t matter now’, she interrupted him, smiling slightly. ‘We have to keep our heads on, and get this over it.’

‘I wish we knew more’, Derek lowered his voice. ‘What he wants.’

‘I’m sure we’ll find out.’, Laura shrugged.

‘Guys’, Scott interrupted them. ‘Stop.’

When Laura turned to look at him, Scott was facing a tree. He brought a hand up to its bark and he stroked it a couple of times.

‘It’s okay’, Scott said in a soft voice. ‘We’re here to help. Can you tell me what he’s doing?’

Laura didn’t hear anybody answer, but she knew better now, than to comment.

‘Why is he doing that?’, Stiles frowned, turning to look at Laura, for some reason. But it was only for a second.

He was silent for a long time.

‘Okay’, he finally said, patting the tree once more. ‘We’ll do our best. Thank you for the help.’

When he got back to the group, Stiles and Derek asked at the same time what the dryad said. There was an awkward exchange of looks, before they both snapped to look at Scott.

‘He’s here. He’s doing something in the woods, but the dryad didn’t know what. She just knows that it’s powerful and magical.’

‘That’s what she said?’, Isaac asked, highly skeptical.

‘Yeah’, Scott sighed. ‘She said that the magic’s all… wrong.’

‘It’s not her usual cup of magic’, Laura said, making everybody look at her. ‘I just mean that this isn’t demigod business. This isn’t your godly magic, or wood nymph magic or Hecate or whatever. This is werewolf magic.’

‘ _Di immortales_!’, Stiles growled, startling everyone. ‘It’s idiotic, that you still think they’re different things.’

Laura faltered, but only because she heard Derek’s heart beat pick up.

‘Magic is magic’, Stiles said, ‘no matter where it comes from, no matter how you believe it came to happen.’

‘But it does matter’, Laura said forcefully, ‘because if it’s the gods, you deal with it. If it’s not, we deal with it.’

‘There is no you and us’, Stiles all but exploded. ‘We’re on this quest together. You and Derek both, you see the world in parts. Our world, and your world and-‘

‘You do too’, Derek said in an almost whisper, but it still stopped Stiles. ‘You’ve said that before, _your world._ ’

‘Be that as it may’, Stiles said after a beat, his anger obviously controlled, ‘I never once believed it.’

Isaac was the one to break the silence that followed.

‘Does that really matter right now?’

‘Yes’, Stiles didn’t hesitate in answering. ‘Because we’re not going to be able to do this if we’re not together.’

‘We’re here, Stiles’, Laura sighed, and started walking in the direction she could smell Peter. ‘We’ll fight about our world-views later.’

 

**L  A  U  R  A**

‘We’re getting closer to the lake.’, Stiles said. ‘That … uh, what was it called?’

‘Saint Anne’, Kira answered quickly, remembering what she read in a tourist pamphlet at the b&b. ‘It’s a volcano lake, in a crater.’

‘That’s where he is and we’re half a mile out.’, Derek said, and they all wordlessly quickened their pace.

The second Laura’s eyes landed on Peter, she heard Riptide grow into a sword.

Peter was in a circle of mushrooms. A fairy ring, Laura recognized them from the woods behind their house. Fairies weren’t actually involved in their making, they were just mushrooms that grew around the bark of trees, that survived even after the tree wasn’t there anymore.

Her uncle looked horrible. He was pale, and he lost a lot of weight since the last time Laura saw him. There was no emotion behind his eyes, he looked… dead. Still, Laura knew he was powerful. She could sense it. And he was wearing the necklace.

That’s the last thing she thought before she felt an invisible force lift her up from the ground. In her panic, Laura dropped her sword. But it didn’t matter, because in the next second, she was underwater.

The cold is what shocked her. Paralyzed her, really. Which was a good thing, because in her shock, she forgot to breath. Good thing to do underwater. But Laura couldn’t move. And she was sinking lower and lower and she was powerless.

_To lose the breath of the dearest_

The line from the prophecy snapped in her mind. This is how I die, Laura thought. She closed her eyes.

 

**D  E  R  E  K**

Derek screamed and made a run for the lake. Stiles stopped him, pushed him to the ground.

When he looked up, Stiles was at the edge of the lake, arms outstretched. The lake was stirring, but something wasn’t right. Stiles was trembling, which he never did when controlling water.

He screamed, which was a sound that pierced through Derek’s soul. He got up, fully intended to go to his side, but then Laura came out of the water. As Stiles quieted down, Derek found himself with a handful of his sister.

They both fell to the ground, but Laura was breathing. Crying, probably, and shivering, but she was breathing. Derek looked to Stiles. His nose was bleeding, and he was glaring at Peter.

‘Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you right now’, Stiles all but growled at the werewolf.

Who merely raised an eyebrow. ‘Because you can’t.’

Then, Peter ignored Stiles completely, turning to look at Laura and Derek.

‘Interesting’, he said, tapping a finger to his lower lip. ‘I was about to comment about how my beloved sister didn’t even extend the courtesy of coming herself. She sent her worthless minions instead.’

It was said with a sneer, and that hurt Derek, deeply in his soul, because the man in front of him spoke nothing like his uncle.

‘But, alas’, he went on, ‘she realized you were useless, so she sent reinforcements. Very interesting, indeed.’

He turned to Stiles again.

‘Why do you want with the necklace?’, he asked, and Derek loved him just a bit more for the amount of power he showed, with just a few words.

‘Everybody wants power’, Peter smiled. ‘If you don’t know that by now, you have a lot to learn.’

‘What do you need the power for?’, Stiles went on, and Peter rolled his eyes.

He turned to Derek and Laura again, addressing them.

‘You mother is a stupid bitch. Just because she’s an alpha’, he growled, ‘she thinks she’s the best. We all must do her bidding, what she wants, what she says, regardless of what we think.’

‘It’s not like that’, Laura said, meekly.

‘It’s exactly like that, you stupid girl!’, Peter snarled. ‘She’s a worthless leader and I need to eliminate her.’

Isaac attacked at that, raised his sword and charged at the other wolf. Derek gently detangled himself from Laura and stood up, drawing his sword as well.

Peter laughed when Isaac fell on his ass. He got up quickly, and tried attacking again, but the result was the same. Then, he tried just shoving his sword forward. It didn’t work.

There was some sort of force field around Peter, that coincided with the mushroom ring at his feet.

Stiles tried next, willing the water out of the lake and throwing it at Peter. It didn’t work, and when he was done, Stiles fell to the ground.

Derek moved to him, but Stiles waved him off.

‘I’m fine’, he wheezed out. ‘He’s doing something to the lake.’

Peter laughed, again.

Kira tried directing a bolt of electricity towards Peter. All it did was scorch the ground outside of the fairy ring.

‘Foolish children’, Peter laughed. ‘You cannot defeat me.’

‘Why are you doing this?’, Derek tried, desperation seeping through. ‘We’re your family.’

‘That’s funny’, Peter snarled, ‘coming from you.’

Derek looked down at that, how could he not.

‘Uncle Peter’, Laura said, slowly getting up from the ground. ‘This isn’t you. You’re… it’s the necklace. It’s messing with your head. Please, let us help.’

‘My god, you are stupid’, Peter snarled. ‘ _This_ is me. I was never able to be myself with your family. In that good for nothing pack. Everybody always trying to please Talia. Not anymore.’

He strengthened his back and extended a hand out, like Stiles did when he was controlling the waters. But now, Peter set his circle of mushrooms on fire.

‘I’ll get rid of you quickly. Then take care of the rest of Talia’s pack. And in the end, she will die knowing she couldn’t save anyone.’

With another move of his hand, things rose from the ground. Spikes, Derek realized. Thick, wooden spikes.

One of them pierced Derek’s leg. Another his arm. One through the palm of his other hand, and one was digging into his back.

The woods were filled with the sounds of screams, as spikes pierced through them all. Except for Stiles.

Stiles, who sat frozen in place. Wide eyes darting to them all, Riptide gripped tightly in his hand. He was trying to decide which one of them to save, Derek realized. Riptide could easily slice the wood, and the wolves could heal. So could Kira. And Scott, well, Scott was strong.

It was a slim shot, though. No way Peter would let Stiles get away with it.

Stiles’ eyes met Derek’s. The intensity of the look surprised the wolf. Stiles was desperate, that much was clear. Derek couldn’t read any trace of the power he knew Stiles had. He was afraid. Desperately so.

Derek shook his head.

Stiles opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but it ended in a yelp, when spikes grew all around him. Dozens of them, but neither pierced Stiles’ skin.

They were close, very close, Stiles had to sit very still.

‘You’re the most powerful one, aren’t you?’, Peter taunted, but Derek couldn’t look away from Stiles.

‘That’s debatable’, Stiles gritted out, and Derek wanted to scream, at Peter to let them go, at Stiles to not taunt the crazy powerful werewolf. At his mother, for sending them.

‘I’m going to take great pleasure in killing you’, Peter said, and Derek found himself screaming.

The older wolf turned to look at him.

‘Really, Derek? Really?’, Peter chuckled. ‘You didn’t scream when I impaled you and your pack, but you’re screaming at this? Why? Why…’ Peter’s eyes gleamed. ‘Is he important? Will it hurt you if I kill him?’

‘Please don’t’, Derek said, very aware of how desperate he sounded. It wasn’t even half as desperate as he felt.

‘Why shouldn’t I?’, Peter grinned.

Derek’s eyes moves to Stiles.

‘Because you lost the love of your life’, Derek told Peter, even if he was looking at Stiles. ‘Don’t make me lose mine.’

He didn’t know what reaction he was expecting from Stiles. But this wasn’t it.

Stiles blinked. Twice. He opened his mouth and closed it with a click. Then, he said _To shake under the strength of a secret._ Then, he grinned.

‘Well isn’t this sweet?’, Peter said, and when Derek turned to look at him, the wolf was a lot angrier than before. There was fire in his eyes, literally.

‘This can’t be real’, Stiles muttered under his breath. Peter didn’t heard him, he was too busy ranting about how great of a ruler he will be, about how he will make every werewolf in the world work for him.

But Derek heard Stiles. Loud and clear.

‘How is he doing this? It can’t be real, werewolves don’t have magic.’

That was true, but since he came to Camp, the word 'magic' was associated wither with Pan or with -.

'Hecate.’, Stiles said, just as Derek was thinking it.

Derek blinked. Hecate was the goddess of magic. During the battle of Manhattan, she cloaked the city in it, preventing humans from entering or leaving. And she…

‘Mist’, Stiles said, once again in sync with Derek’s thought process. ‘This isn’t real.’

But it can’t be. ‘It feels real’, Derek mouthed, but Stiles didn’t acknowledge it.

‘This isn’t real. You must believe this isn’t real.’

Derek didn’t. But he believed Stiles. He believed in Stiles, who started pushing against the spikes. Derek saw him wincing against the pain, biting on his lower lip to keep from making any noise.

Peter was still talking. Laura was trying to interrupt, but she didn’t manage it.

Stiles was bleeding.

Derek believed in Stiles’ blood.

He believed in Laura trying, still trying to get through to Peter.

He believed in the blood of his pack.

He believed in Scott, who was desperately trying to reach his pipes.

This whole quest, the question that came up was the difference between the world of the gods and the world of werewolves.

This whole quest, Derek was reminded that even though he was in both of the worlds, he didn’t belong in neither.

This whole quest, Derek tried to find an answer to the question he kept asking himself for the past decade: where did he belong?

He still had no answer. But he knew that wherever it was, Stiles should be by his side.

He believed in Stiles.

And if Stiles believed that this wasn’t real, that Peter’s power wasn’t real, that it was all a trick of the Mist… How could Derek doubt him?

He took a deep breath and _pushed_.

He pushed against the spikes. He pushed against the pain he felt when they dug further in his flesh. He pushed against the blood he felt dripping. He pushed against everything.

‘What the hell are you doing?’, Derek heard Peter asking, but he didn’t focus on it.

He didn’t focus on anything except for Stiles. Who was staring.

 

**D  E  R  E  K**

He has no idea how long it took. But finally, finally!, Derek felt a surge of power cursing through his veins. He didn’t understand it, but he embraced it.

With one final push against the spikes, with a final roar filled with power, Derek was free.

And landing on all fours, shifted fully into a wolf.

Breathing heavily, he looked around. The spikes were gone. Not just from him, but from everyone else as well. And there were no traces of wounds, no blood, nothing. Everybody was staring at him.

‘What did you do?’, Peter said, and Derek’s eyes snapped to him. He didn’t look powerful anymore. He looked just as he always did, but thinner and paler.

Derek pounced.

In three seconds, Peter was flat on his back. Which shouldn’t have happened, Derek was aware, he was never stronger than Peter, not even in his wolf form. But somehow, he pinned the other wolf down.

Derek raised his right claw, and he didn’t know if he would’ve actually been able to kill Peter, but he never found out, because there was a hand wrapping around his paw.

When Derek looked up, he saw a young woman in a dark, sleeveless gown. It was a weird gown, it rippled, like ink was pilling off of it. She was beautiful, her golden hair set in a high pony tail, like Derek saw a lot of goddesses wearing on Olympus. Behind her, there were two old fashioned reed torches, and in the corner of his eye, Derek saw a black Labrador and a polecat running circles around Stiles.

Hecate, Derek realized, and the goddess nodded, like she knew he recognized her.

‘Do not hurt your uncle, wolf. Say goodbye, because when I retrieve my necklace, he shall be no more.’

Derek shifted back to human form. He let go of Peter, slowly, and got up. The other wolf didn’t, Derek thought Hecate had something to do with it.

‘Kill me’, Peter snarled. ‘I know you want to. Do it, Derek. Do what you always wanted.’

‘I never wanted to hurt you’, Derek whispered, walking away.

He went to Laura, unsurprised to find her with tears in her eyes.

‘Say goodbye’, he told her.

‘Why?’, she grabbed a hold of his hand. ‘What is happening?’

‘You don’t see her?’, Derek frowned. Laura looked at him like he was insane.

‘I don’t usually appear to demigods, never to mortals.', Hecate said. 'This is a special occasion.’

Derek sighed, surprised to feel tears falling down his face.

‘The necklace belongs to the goddess of magic. She wants it back. As soon as she takes it…’, he couldn’t finish, he just shook his head, but Laura understood either way.

She slowly made his way to Peter’s side, Kira and Isaac close behind her. Derek didn’t turn to look, but he heard Laura still trying to get through to Peter, telling him that she loved him, that the whole pack did, that he was their favorite uncle. Peter kept listing all the ways in which he wanted to kill her.

Derek turned around just in time to see Hecate reaching for the necklace, and Peter disappearing into a pile of ash.

 

**S  T  I  L  E S**

He could see Hecate right in front of his eyes, another god to cross of his gods-I-met list, but he couldn’t care less. He couldn’t look away from Derek.

So Stiles saw, absently, Hecate getting her necklace, Peter turning into a pile of ash, the goddess explaining to Derek more of what happened, disappearing into a hurricane of Mist.

He saw Laura all but running to Derek’s side and hugging him tightly, he saw Scott going to Kira and gathering her into his arms. He couldn’t care less.

‘Your eyes were red.’

Derek froze, from where he was running his fingers through Laura’s hair. He let go of her, and turned to look at Stiles, frowning.

‘Your eyes… were red’, Stiles said again. ‘Just before you broke through the Mist.’

‘That’s not possible, Stiles’, Derek said.

‘So flash them. Flash your eyes.’

Derek did. And they were red. Laura gasped and took a step back from him.

‘Oh my god’, Derek said, and Stiles knew he felt it. The extra power of being an Alpha.

Laura hugged him again, and Derek sagged against her. He was probably crying, which was a sight Stiles has never seen. He didn’t want to see it, ever, so he turned his back.

He walked to the lake and crouched down, easily able to find a rainbow in the ripples. He tossed a gold drachma into it.

‘Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me Talia Hale.’

It didn’t take long for the connection to form, and Stiles saw Talia sitting at a desk. Her hail was messily piled on top of her head, she had glasses on and her sweater had a coffee stain near the hem. Clearly, it was night time in America.

‘Mrs. Hale’, Stiles said as softly as he could, but the Alpha still jumped.

‘What’s wrong?’, she said quickly, after recognizing Stiles.

‘The six of us are alive’.

Talia closed her eyes. ‘Not Peter.’

‘I’m sorry’, Stiles said, meaning it. He might have tried to kill them all, but he was still her brother.

‘I knew it will come to this’, Talia sighed. ‘And the necklace?’

Stiles frowned. ‘Hecate took it back.’

This surprised Talia, clearly.

‘I didn’t get the full gist of it’, Stiles went on, ‘but I’m sure Derek will explain at some point.’

‘Okay’, Talia nodded. ‘Okay. I’ll let Chiron know of your success. But you’re all coming here before going back to Camp. I need to see you.’

Stiles didn’t argue.

 

**S  T  I  L  E S**

They hurried along Europe and then, they hurried along the Atlantic.

Everybody was subdued. There weren’t any coffee fights in the morning, no more sparring sessions, no game nights.

On the boat, Stiles spent most of the time in his room. Scott joined him, sometimes, when he wasn’t too busy with Kira.

He did a lot of thinking during those days. And a lot of research. It took a few tries, but Stiles understood what happened to Derek. He couldn’t find the courage to talk to the wolf about it. Because if they spoke, they’d have to speak about Derek’s confession too.

And that… Stiles wasn’t ready for that. Not yet.

Don’t get him wrong, he felt absolutely _ecstatic_. If what Derek said was real. It could have been a lie, Derek trying to convince Peter to spare him. But Peter was a wolf, he would have heard if it was a lie.

So Stiles didn’t think it was a lie. There was still a bead of doubt in his mind, yes, but the way Derek looked at him in that moment… Stiles didn’t think it was a lie.

And while Stiles felt the same, he wasn’t ready to have this conversation with Derek. Not yet.

He promised himself it’ll happen as soon as they get back to Camp. After things will have quieted down, after they were both able to _breathe_ and get their thoughts in order, Stiles promised himself he will talk to Derek.

 

**L  A  U  R  A**

When the car rolled onto the last part of the driveway, and when the house came into view, Laura wasn’t surprised to see their entire pack standing on the porch.

She was surprised, however, when Stiles screamed.

‘Dad!’

‘What?’, Laura almost drove the car into a tree, that’s how surprised she was. ‘Poseidon is here?’

‘Other dad!’, Stiles laughed, all but bouncing with excitement.

As soon as the car stooped, Stiles bolted out, running straight to a man Laura didn’t recognize. But she didn’t dwell on it, couldn’t, really, when she was being tackled to the ground by over enthusiastic siblings and cousins.

She was startled out of it by her mother’s very harsh voice. ‘What did you do?’

When Laura turned to look, her mother’s eyes were red and she was staring, angrily, at Derek, whose eyes were also flashing red, but he couldn’t meet her eye. Then, Stiles appeared, posing himself right between them, with his back to Derek.

‘He didn’t do anything’, Stiles said to Talia, in a placating manner. ‘We were there, we saw it. He didn’t kill another Alpha to get the power.’

‘That must be a lie.’, Talia seethed out.

‘It’s not’, Stiles said quietly before taking a deep breath. ‘While fighting against Peter, against magic, Derek became a true Alpha.’

Talia’s eyes turned to their normal color, and she took a step back, frowning.

‘That’s just a myth. It doesn’t make any sense.’

Stiles smiled, and stepped back, till he was in line with Derek, their shoulders brushing.

‘It kinda does’, the demigod said. ‘But maybe Derek should explain what happened with the necklace, first.’

Talia nodded, and Derek started talking, even if he still didn’t meet his mother’s eyes.

‘The necklace belongs to Hecate, the goddess of magic. And of the Mist, the power that makes godly things unseable to human eyes. The Mist is a….’

‘Hallucination’, Stiles supplied. ‘Optical illusion, more like.’

‘Yes’, Derek nodded. ‘The power the necklace gave to the users, it was never real. It was just the Mist.’

‘How…’, Talia tried, but didn’t really finish.

‘It’s a trick of the eye’, Stiles said easily. ‘You don’t need it anymore, because you know about gods and demigods and werewolves and druids and all. But if you were human, completely out of the loop’, Stiles drew out Riptide, ‘you’d probably see this as a baseball bat.’

He quickly turned Riptide back into a pen and put it in his pocket.

‘Hecate gave it to the first Hale Alpha’, Derek took over, ‘for protection. To help keep the secret from the humans. She took it back, now, because there wasn’t any need for it anymore. Apparently, werewolves have finally learned how to keep secrets.’

‘And Peter is dead?’, their father said, finally coming to Talia’s side.

Stiles nodded, while Derek looked down.

‘We’re sorry for your loss’, Stiles said, very subdued, ‘but there wasn’t any way to save him.’

‘This is a lot to take in’, their father said, and Stiles snorted.

‘Sorry’, he blushed, ‘it’s just that that’s the understatement of the week.’

‘What about you, Derek?’, Talia asked, putting a hand on his cheek. ‘What happened to you?’

‘I don’t know’, Derek sighed, pressing his cheek into her touch.

‘I do’, Stiles said, making Derek look at him. ‘I may have googled it on the way here.’, he winked at Derek, before turning to Talia.

‘So, if I understood correctly, a true Alpha is one who doesn’t have to kill another Alpha to gain his power.’

‘Yes’, Talia said, hesitantly.

‘Well’, Stiles tilted his head, ‘when he changed, Derek was fighting. He was impaled in several wooden stakes, and he fought against the pain and the blood, believing that they weren’t real, that they were just a trick of the Mist. It was a very difficult thing to do, believe me. Probably the most difficult thing he had to do in his life’, Stiles looked to Derek for confirmation but he didn’t get any.

‘And, honestly, it kinda makes sense’, Stiles smiled a bit, his tone growing softer, looking at Derek. ‘You’re the son of the first werewolf, and you have Athena’s blood cruising through your veins. You shouldn’t have been expected to follow, because you were born to lead.’

Derek’s jaw dropped at that, and Stiles grinned.

‘And, dude’, the half-blood went on, ‘that explains why you always felt like you didn’t belong, in this pack or at Camp. Because you don’t.’

Derek opened his mouth to say something, but Stiles didn’t let him.

‘Which is not to say you’re going to be banished’, he rolled his eyes, ‘I just meant that maybe now that you’ve grown into your power, you’ll settle down. _To find what is most sacred._ ’

There was a long, long silence that followed this. Laura couldn’t look away from Derek, who took turns, staring at Stiles and staring at Talia, with his jaw dropped and his ears red.

‘If Derek’s an Alpha’, Cora said, startling absolutely everyone, ‘that means he’s strong enough to lift me up now, no matter how much I grow up.’

Stiles started laughing at that, pretty hysterically, and everyone soon followed. Except for Derek, who bent down and lifted a very happy Cora onto his shoulders.

 

**L  A  U  R  A**

The dinner that night was a crazy mess, as usual, but it was even more crazy than normal, considering that it wasn’t just the pack, but a demigod who could control water, a satyr who asked permission to eat a couple of the plates, and the sheriff of the county.

But Laura managed to gather some information.

Apparently, Stiles and his father lived in the next town over, on the hills. The Sheriff knew the Hales quite well, apparently, because Talia and her husband always helped if the department encountered supernatural problems. Stiles called him 'dad', and it was hard to picture John as a figure of authority, especially when he kept hugging Stiles and kept bickering about their diets.

They’ll all be spending the night, which will make for an interesting breakfast, as well.

Chiron was very happy about their success, and there was a party awaiting them at Camp. Derek’s eye twitched when he heard this particular information, and Stiles and Scott started laughing manically at him. Laura enjoyed the fact that they had inside jokes, probably more than she should.

They were all invited to visit the pack again, of course. But Scott, especially. Talia winked at him, and the satyr _baah_ -ed, turning completely red, in sync with Kira shoving her face behind a plate. Laura didn’t understand how she missed that development.

At one point, Stiles and Derek were alone in the kitchen. Laura couldn’t help but eavesdrop, and most of the family was probably doing the same. Scott even shushed the room.

‘No’, Stiles said, and Laura heard Derek’s sharp intake of breath, and the stutter in his heart.

‘I meant not now’, Stiles went on. ‘Let’s just… get back to camp. Is that alright?’

Derek didn’t answer, but he must have given some sort of signal, because Stiles said ‘Good.’

Then was a seven second delay before Stiles got out of the kitchen, with a small smile on his face. When Derek came out, his ears were red.

It was adorable.

That night, Laura went to sleep in the middle of the living room floor, surrounded by the youngsters in the pack, and by Scott and Stiles. Derek was by her side, and Cora was squeezed between them, while Stiles told a weird bed time story about a banshee and a deputy.

 

**D  E  R  E  K**

He was the first one to wake up in the morning, and that wasn’t surprising. He grabbed some fruit and a cup of coffee and didn’t bother changing out of pajamas before going out.

Stiles found him half an hour later, sitting on a log at the edge of a small river that ran through the property. Stiles’ coffee mug was actually an alarmingly large soup bowl and he had three pop tarts in his other hand.

He didn’t say anything when he sat down next to Derek, their shoulders and thighs pressed together. But Derek didn’t mind.

His mind raced. Yesterday, Stiles had read Derek’s mind, like he usually did, and told him that they’d talk about it after they went back to camp. What _it_ was, Derek didn’t know.

He still felt Stiles' lips on his cheek, from where he gave him a lingering kiss before walking out of the kitchen.

Was Stiles going to reject Derek? It was a scary thought, the heartbreak it will come with, but Derek knew that Stiles will do his best to hurt Derek as little as possible. For that, he was grateful. He just hoped they will be able to continue being friends. Derek could get used to that, in time.

But what if Stiles wasn’t going to reject Derek? There were moments, throughout their friendship, especially after Stiles came out of the limo that time he met Aphrodite. But Derek usually thought he was imagining it. Wishful thinking. Could it be more? That was even more terrifying.

But, sitting next to Stiles now, surrounded by the woods and his scent, their sides pressed close together, Derek thought that whatever will happen, he’ll be okay.

They ate their breakfast and drank their coffee, and when they were done, Stiles started playing with the water. Just making small gazers that shoot up water for a couple of seconds, making rainbows appear in the early morning light.

‘So, big guy’, Stiles finally said, ‘feel like you wanna bite me, yet?’

Derek chocked on his spit, which made Stiles laugh.

‘I just meant that I read that a new Alpha feels the need to make a pack.’

‘Oh’, Derek frowned. Stiles was right, of course, but Derek didn’t even think about it until now.

‘It’s weird’, the wolf said. ‘I don’t want to make a pack.’

‘But…’, Stiles prompted upon seeing his hesitation.

‘But I don’t want to be alone anymore.’, Derek sighed. ‘You know me, I … I don’t like people. And crowds. But now, I don’t know. I didn’t mind waking up with Cora’s elbow jammed in my face. And I don’t think I’ll mind falling asleep in the messy Hermes cabin anymore, I kinda miss it.’

When Derek turned to look at Stiles, he was smiling softly at the wolf. It was a caring smile, that made Derek’s heart beat speed up and his cheeks to flush.

‘Did your little heart grew three times it’s size?’, Stiles asked. ‘It’s not even Christmas.’

Moment ruined, Derek bitterly thought. He shoved Stiles off the log, but it only made the half-blood laugh harder.

 

**D  E  R  E  K**

He was used to it, by now. Coming back from a quest, the party that awaited for them at Camp.

It was different, now. Because in the past, Stiles was the star of the show. He was the one that the other campers were fighting to get to congratulate, his name was the one that reverberated throughout the camp.

But now, Derek got all of the attention.

He didn’t handle it very well. Yeah, sure, he went with it, he smiled when he had to, shook everybody’s hands, accepted hugs and thanked them all.

But on the inside, Derek was close to exploding.

Yes, he told Stiles that he didn’t want to be alone anymore, but this… this was too much.

His senses were frizzing. Since he became an Alpha, all his werewolf powers were stronger. So he heard the Ares kids saying that they could still probably beat him in a fight. And he heard the Aphrodite girls saying that he was even hotter now. And he heard Scott telling someone about how he always knew Derek had it in him.

It was too much.

And then he heard Stiles, who was talking to Chiron.

‘We should all give him a break, until he gets used to being an Alpha. I’m gonna take him out for a walk.’

Derek sighed in relief and half a minute later, Stiles was dragging him away from the crowd, shouting apologies and excuses around a grin.

 

**D  E  R  E  K**

Stiles sneaked them into the Poseidon cabin. Derek didn’t spend a lot of time here, only waking up Stiles a couple of times, but he liked it. Probably because it was so different to the Hermes cabin.

It was actually decorated, with pieces of seashells and corals, and a beautiful fountain on one of the walls. The paint was light blue and all the windows faced the sea.

There were six bunk beds, but it was clear which one was Stiles’, because of the mess on it. The covers were half fallen off the bed, the pillow was on the ground and heaps of clothes were piled everywhere.

Stiles didn’t seem perturbed about the mess. Instead he closed the door behind them and made his way to one of the bigger windows. Derek followed.

‘We should talk’, Stiles said, and Derek took a deep breath, nodding.

He tried to gather his thoughts. He tried to start the conversation, think about how he could make Stiles understand. All he felt, and all he wanted. Derek couldn’t find the words. He tried, and tried, and tried, but nothing seemed enough.

And looking at Stiles, at his bright eyes and his soft smile, all words flew out of Derek's mind. Completely.

Stiles kissed him. Roughly grabbed Derek’s face and pressed their lips together.

It wasn’t a long kiss. It wasn’t a strong one, either. It was… calm. It was sweet. It was like a weight lifted off of Derek’s shoulders.

He didn’t care about anything else. He didn’t hear anything except his heart and Stiles’, both beating rapidly in their chests. He couldn’t smell anything except from Stiles, his excitement and the sea.

When Stiles pulled back, it took a couple of seconds for Derek to be able to open his eyes. Stiles didn’t take his hands off Derek’s face, and the half-blood was smiling widely, excitement still evident.

‘We’ll talk later?’, Stiles whispered, and all Derek could do was nod and wrap his arms around the love of his life.

 

**S  T  I  L  E  S**

Stiles woke up to the sound of hooves on cement.

He instantly knew it meant that Chiron was around, and that only meant that Stiles overslept. Again.

He tried getting out of bed, as quickly as he could.

But he stumbled upon something, something warm and large that was in the middle of his bed.

Derek.

Stiles yelped, remembering how long they kissed last night, how they fell asleep in each other’s arms, how perfect it all was.

He landed on the floor with a loud thud. Derek groaned just as the door opened.

Chiron was glaring down at Stiles.

‘I can explain’, he said from the floor.

Chiron huffed, rolling his eyes. ‘You’re going to be late for sword practice. The newcomers are really looking forward to learning from you.’

Stiles gulped.

‘You have five minutes.’, the centaur said, and Stiles was quick to nod.

Chiron’s eyes skipped to Derek, and Stiles’ followed. The wolf was sitting up in bed, shirtless, lower half covered by the comforter. His hair was a mess, he was rubbing his eyes and the tips of his ears were bright red.

There was also a mark on his neck. A bite mark. Stiles didn’t even feel bad about it. It was an experiment, after all, to see if Alphas can control their healing. Derek could, apparently. The experiment was a success. Stiles couldn’t help but grin.

Chiron cleared his throat, making Stiles and Derek both turn to look at him.

‘Make it ten minutes’, Chiron said, winking at them before closing the door behind himself.

‘Wow’, Stiles breathed out, and he wanted to continue that sentence, but he couldn’t. Because Derek rolled over off the bed, straight on top of Stiles, knocking the wind out of him.

But Derek also kissed him sweetly, so it was okay.

 

**S  T  I  L  E  S**

He was 20 minutes late to sword practice. He also had a massive hickey on his neck.

The Aphrodite girls were the only ones who seemed to care.

 


End file.
